The Ger­man start-up scene meets in Pader­born

 |  Gründung & Innovation

Summit "moonshots & moneten" once again invites the start-up scene to Paderborn

An event with charisma: Paderborn is once again hosting an important meeting for the German start-up scene. Under the title "moonshots & moneten - The Start-up Summit for the Technologies of the Future", garage33, the Paderborn University's start-up centre, is hosting a start-up summit for the second time on 12 February 2025. The entire start-up community - consisting of founders, entrepreneurs, investors and network players - is invited to get to know the up-and-coming start-up region of East Westphalia-Lippe. Innovative ideas from the region will be presented, inspiring start-up stories shared and current challenges in the start-up world discussed on the premises of the Start-up Campus OWL. Interested parties can register for tickets on the event website www.moonshotsundmoneten.de.

Inspiring event programme for start-ups, business angels and investors

On several stages, renowned speakers will share their experiences on the topic of founding a start-up or will have their say in exciting panel discussions on various specialist topics. Regional start-up founders from garage33 will tell their personal "Local Hero Stories". Up-and-coming start-up teams looking for investment will once again have the opportunity to network with entrepreneurs and investors at the "OWL Start-up Pitch" in 2025. The OWL Start-up Pitch is an established format that will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2025. A new addition is the "NRW Future Tech Pitch", in which start-ups from the six Excellence Start-up Centres in NRW and other innovation and research institutions from NRW pitch their forward-looking ideas on stage. There will also be pre-events the evening before. Janna Ensthaler, known as an investor from the TV show "Die Höhle der Löwen", and serial entrepreneur Farina Schurzfeld will be on the big stage alongside other well-known personalities from the start-up scene.

"moonshots und moneten" builds on successes from 2024

The event was already a complete success in 2024. On two event days in February, 500 guests came to the newly built Start-up Campus OWL in Paderborn. In addition to the event programme consisting of specialist presentations, pitch events and panel discussions, start-ups were able to exchange ideas with founders from all over Germany, network with potential investors and find valuable synergies and project partners.

At the last "OWL Start-up Pitch", the Cologne start-up foodforecast was able to establish promising contacts with established investors. "moonshots & moneten is an absolute enrichment for the start-up scene in OWL and beyond. Last year, we not only got to know other exciting start-ups, but also many investors, one of whom is now investing with us," says Jan Brormann, Co-Founder and COO of foodforecast. Michael Schäufler, founder of the start-up avori, also got to know a future pilot customer at "moonshots & moneten". The start-up from Bielefeld has developed a platform to simplify the digital planning of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The company Net at Work was planning to expand the charging points for its electric company vehicles and became aware of avori's digital innovation at the event. They finally realised the project together in the summer. "Innovation requires courageous companies that are prepared to break new ground and try things out. With the 'moonshots & moneten' event, Paderborn University creates suitable formats for networking start-ups and companies in the region," says the start-up founder.

Photo (Paderborn University, garage33): On 12 February 2025, the Paderborn Start-up Summit "moonshots und moneten" will once again take place at the Start-up Campus OWL. A special highlight will be the "OWL Start-up Pitch".

Contact